This is an F. Seith zither; Andi Waldschütz is/has a restored F Seith beauty in his shop, and the finish is absolutely perfect.

On this attempt, however, there are/were many crack lines parallel to the griffbret, all the way up to the far edge of the instrument. In addition, there were many crack lines parallel to and following the sigmoid shaped left hand bridge. Could these be brush marks from the not of the best varnishes/finishes, perhaps applied too thickly? Could this instrument have been produced during WW II? Plastics were difficult to obtain at that time. Could these be thin strips of wood painted ivory?

Also, one of the "posts" underneath the griffbrett machine was broken off (now epoxied in place). It may have been chiseled off too closely (in a hurry?) Real maple, cured properly, (Ahorn auf Deutsch) would have endured this close tolerance.

The sound remains, however, and hopefully the patient will survive the treatment. The overall form reflects and is quite similar to the Förg from my father, although this Seith is 8 cm less in width.

Lot going on this weekend. In my next life I will not join any groups which have a kitchen attached.

Commercial purfling seems to be of 2 x 6 mm in size. What was needed was 1.5 x 2 mm, which was fabricated from scrap white vinyl. Repairing purfling is not unlike repairing doll house furniture.

When working on these fine surfaces, even 400 grit sandpaper tended to be a little too aggressive. When used, it was first "dulled" by briefly sanding a piece of scrap wood. Finer grits would be more desirable, if available.

Rudy Mueller wrote:Commercial purfling seems to be of 2 x 6 mm in size. What was needed was 1.5 x 2 mm, which was fabricated from scrap white vinyl. Repairing purfling is not unlike repairing doll house furniture.

When working on these fine surfaces, even 400 grit sandpaper tended to be a little too aggressive. When used, it was first "dulled" by briefly sanding a piece of scrap wood. Finer grits would be more desirable, if available.

Rudi

Rudi - you can get fine sandpaper all the way up to 2000 at most auto parts stores. It's used wet, to give a final smoothing to auto exterior paint.